Uncertainty, fear plague international students unable to go home as coronavirus spreads
A handful of students carried boxes out of their dorms and loaded packed suitcases into their parents SUVs on N.C State University’s otherwise empty campus Thursday, preparing to head home to take online classes for the rest of the spring semester. But, for many international students across the UNC System, going home isn’t an option due to travel restrictions as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread worldwide.
They face a level of uncertainty and fear that many students from North Carolina and nearby states simply can’t understand.
“We went into spring break thinking we were going to come back to our dorms and classes,” said Kimathi Muiruri, a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill. “Now, our lives ... and the entire state of North Carolina has been turned upside down. We did not see this coming.”
Over the past week, local universities, including the UNC System and Duke, have ordered students off campuses, moved classes online and restricted travel to several countries designated as level 2 or 3 by the CDC because of the coronavirus.
International students separated from family
Muiruri, a 20-year-old from Toronto, said it’s difficult for international students who are trying to coordinate academics, living situations, visa requirements and family obligations all at once.
After the announcement about online classes from UNC, he got an email from a professor that he still had an exam after spring break.
“At the same time, I’m trying to figure out if I can book flights home, if I can afford it, will I be able to get re-entry?” Muiruri said. “And if I go home, I end up in quarantine for 14 days and how that will affect my academic performance?”
Muiruri knows he’s doing the best thing for his own health and for his parents safety because going to multiple airports and flying home would put them at risk.
“There’s a tremendous amount of anxiety about the global uncertainty of what’s going to happen next,” Muiruri said. “It terrifies me that I’m separated from my family and I’m not able to see them.”
There are more than 130 confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Carolina and state health officials continue to warn residents about the the growing threat of the coronavirus. NC Gov. Roy Cooper also gives routine updates on restrictions to try to limit the spread, including ordering bars and restaurants to stop dine-in services.
Muiruri said he’s praying people do their part and practice social distancing to flatten the curve because “it’s very, very scary to think about those worst case scenarios.”
Hamid Sanei, an NC State graduate student from Iran, welcomes the changes, which he says are necessary to stop the spread of the virus. But, he worries about the challenges with online classes and take-home exams during the spring semester.
Sanei, 31, is earning a master of science in mathematics education and plans to start a PhD program at NC State in the fall.
As a research assistant, Sanei’s projects involve K-12 students and teachers. With school closures across North Carolina, he’s nervous that the research will stall and he’ll lose his assistantship, which pays for his expenses attending the university.
“If it’s shut down I cannot continue this school,” Sanei said.
On top of that, he fears that his mom, 65, and dad, 81, don’t have access to the health care they need in Iran, where more than 1,000 people have died from COVID-19.
Sanei has no way to go see them if they do get infected and can’t get them out of the country. He said he stopped sleeping because of the anxiety that’s piled on with this pandemic.
“It’s becoming more stressful day by day,” Sanei said.
If you or someone you know has been affected by the coronavirus at a university, including international students, please contact higher education reporter Kate Murphy at kamurphy@newsobserver.com.
Duke international students appeal to stay on campus
Twenty four miles up the road in Durham, one Duke University student doesn’t know where he’s going to live for the next few days, weeks or months.
Dennis Wang, a junior from Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada, is supposed to be out of his dorm by Sunday, March 23, as the university is essentially shutting down around him. He currently lives with two roommates who are still on campus because they can’t return home to China.
“Everyone else who’s not international is pretty much gone,” Wang said. “Even for students staying on campus it’s still uncertain. We’re basically waiting for emails to come out.”
Those email announcements informed students that spring break was extended, classes were moving online and commencement was postponed. Duke students were told to leave campus or stay away without coming back to get their personal belongings.
Wang said many international students and their parents were concerned when that happened because Duke was putting students in more danger by having them sent home. Students were allowed to submit a request to stay in campus housing, but some were denied.
William Chang, 21-year-old junior from China, was one of those students who appealed to stay at Duke. He said his application to live in campus housing was originally rejected, which he said was appalling and unbelievable given how bad the outbreak was in China.
Chang thought Duke should at least give students the option to stay because it was dangerous and expensive to travel back to China and many airlines had canceled flights.
“Students basically were required to leave in one week or two,” Chang said. “And a lot of parents worried about their safety on the international flight.”
Duke sent out another notice granting many international students the option to stay and now Chang is able to live in his dorm until May 4th. Even if Chang could go back to China, he said he would rather stay in Durham.
Being on campus will be more convenient because he’ll be in the same time zone as professors and other students for the online classes, he said. He wants to experience as much of college life as he can, despite how different it might look this spring.
Most of the facilities have closed, including the gym, labs and libraries. The few dining options that are left only offer take-out and have limited hours. But Chang and Wang have friends on campus, and plan to self-quarantine with them.
Beyond the logistical challenges to traveling, they both said they feel safer on campus than flying back to their respective homes. There are more cases in British Columbia than North Carolina and Wang would have to self-quarantine for two weeks alone once he returned home.
“For my safety and own social sanity it’s better for me to stay at school,” Wang said.
At least 30 Duke students have tested positive for coronavirus and 26 of them are recovering in isolation off campus in Durham.
He said he’s not afraid of getting sick, but is concerned because there could be infected students walking around campus spreading it, even if they aren’t experiencing severe symptoms.
“Some of our friends might have it but don’t know it themselves,” Wang said. “There’s definitely a lot of paranoia going around.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 6:42 AM.
